Helldivers 2 has catapulted Arrowhead Studios to global fame with its simple premise, addictive gameplay, and a lot of variety in its missions and enemy types. As the titular Helldivers, you and your squad are tasked with spreading Democracy across the game’s world, overcoming overwhelming resistance as you do so.

The fight against the bug-like Terminids and the vicious Automatons takes a variety of forms, and each mission comes with its own objectives for you to accomplish as a team. And with Arrowhead constantly looking to refine the experience that they deliver to their fans, it is a gift that keeps on giving – a view echoed by fans all over the world who can’t get enough of its breakneck pace and frantic action.

The Automaton’s Aerial Advantage

The Automatons’ need to eradicate organic life makes them a deadly threat that needs to be taken off the board for Super Earth to prosper. However, they come with a lot of firepower and support, calling in Dropships that carry reinforcements if things in the field are not going their way. And with a lot of tough enemies like Devastators, Hulks, Tanks, and Factory Striders, fighting them unprepared is a quick way to an early grave.

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Taking out their aerial support by eliminating Dropships can be advantageous, but what if you could disable their ability to reinforce their troops entirely? That’s precisely what the Sabotage Air Base missions are about, requiring you to infiltrate Automaton Air Bases to destroy their Dropships and disable their Control Towers to diminish their threat in a particular area.

Missions Made Easy: How to Sabotage Air Bases in Helldivers 2

While your objectives in the Sabotage Air Base mission type are fairly straightforward, completing them requires coordination between your squad and a whole lot of firepower to do so. This is because these Air Bases are heavily guarded and locating the Dropships and Control Towers can be tricky when you are constantly fighting off hordes of ground troops.

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The heavy deployment of ground troops is due to the presence of Automaton Fabricators, factories that constantly churn out troops to harass you in the field. You are likely to find up to four of these Fabricators within the Air Base’s walls. Taking them out can make the rest of the mission fairly easy.

That’s easier said than done, however, as the Fabricators are heavily armored and you will need to be precise when attempting to destroy them. An assault with your weapons is out of the question as they barely make a dent in the Fabricator’s outer armor. Instead, you will need to carry explosives that you can throw inside the Fabricator.

You could choose to throw grenades into either of the vents above the Fabricator’s doors or even through the door when it opens up to let out newly manufactured troops out into the field. Orbital Air Strikes are a great option here although we recommend saving them for the Dropships and Control Towers to make your time in the Air Base more effective.

You will also have to deal with machine gun turrets around the Air Base’s perimeter that you can take out any way you like. Once again, try and save your Stratagems for the Dropships and Control Tower.

With the Air bAses’s defenses more or less disabled, it’s time to fulfill your objectives. The Dropships docked within make for easy targets against explosive weapons or anti-tank weaponry such as the EAT-17 Expendable Anti-Tank or LAS-99 Quasar Cannon. Remember that their Thrusters are weak points and you can take them down with relative ease once you can locate them.

Next up is the Air Base’s Control Tower. You will need to destroy the tower itself while also locating a terminal and hard disk in its vicinity to take out. An easy way to do this would be to use the Orbital 380mm HE Barrage that can easily wipe out the tower, terminal, and any remaining Dropships within the base. An excellent alternative would be the Orbital Laser considering its wide area of effect and devastating firepower.

With only forty minutes to achieve all of these objectives, you will have to move fast and strike together as a coordinated unit to complete this mission. Ensure that each of your squad knows their role in the operation and try and support each other wherever possible as you can quickly get overwhelmed by bots if the Fabricators are still in play – the gun turrets and a continuous supply of bots make for a deadly combination!

With a bit of skill and coordination, clearing out Automaton Air Bases will soon be a piece of cake, allowing you to take on harder missions such as Destroying Command Bunkers in Helldivers 2. For anything else you may need in the game, do check out our exclusive guides to find what you need.